His playing style was noteworthy for containing intricate solos in the higher register. His unique innovations also included the use of harmonics and the "singing" quality of his melodies. In 2006, Pastorius was voted "The Greatest Bass Player Who Has Ever Lived" by reader submissions in Bass Guitar Magazine.

Pastorius started his musical career as a drummer (following in the footsteps of his father Jack, a stand-up drummer) but when he was 13, he injured his wrist while playing football. The break was so severe it caused calcium to build up in his wrist and required corrective surgery. After that he was never able to hit a snare drum properly again. At that time he was in a nine-piece horn band called Las Olas Brass (which covered popular material of the day by Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, James Brown and the Tijuana Brass). Rendered unable to play the drums, he decided to fill in the spot left open by the recently departed bass player.

As Pastorius' interest in jazz grew, he developed a desire to play the double bass. After saving money for a considerable length of time for the purchase of a double bass, he found that the instrument could not stand up to the Florida humidity. One morning, his double bass was "in like a hundred pieces" as he put it. Deciding that to replace it would be too expensive, he instead pried out the frets on his Fender, and filled the fret holes with wood putty and marine varnish.

He continued to play music throughout his youth, drawing on aforementioned influences like Jerry Jemmott, James Jamerson, Paul Chambers, Harvey Brooks and Tommy Cogbill and honing his skills and developing his songwriting prowess in bands like Wayne Cochran and The C.C. Riders.[2] He also played on various local R&B and jazz records during that time such as Little Beaver, Ira Sullivan's Quintet and Woodchuck. In 1974, he began playing with his friend and later famous jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. They recorded together, first with Paul Bley as leader and Bruce Ditmas on drums, then with drummer Bob Moses. Metheny and Jaco recorded a trio album with Bob Moses on the ECM label, entitled Bright Size Life.

Debut album

In 1975, Pastorius met up with Blood, Sweat and Tears drummer Bobby Colomby, who had been given the green light by CBS records to find "new talent" for their jazz division. Pastorius' first album, produced by Colomby and entitled Jaco Pastorius (1976), was a breakthrough album for the electric bass. Many consider this to be the finest bass album ever recorded; when it exploded onto the jazz scene it was instantly recognized as a classic. The album also boasted a lineup of heavyweights in the jazz community at the time, who were essentially his stellar back up band, including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, David Sanborn, Lenny White, Don Alias, and Michael Brecker among others.[8] Even legendary R&B singers Sam & Dave reunited to appear on the track "Come On, Come Over".

In the early to mid-1980s, Pastorius began to experience increasingly prevalent mental health problems, including symptoms of bipolar disorder. These were worsened by drugs and heavy alcohol use, and he was eventually diagnosed as being manic depressive. Although his on-stage and off-stage antics were already well-documented, his mental health and addiction problems exacerbated his unusual and often bizarre behavior, and his musical performances suffered.

From 1984 to 1987 he played in various solo acts, mostly in Fort Lauderdale and New York City, and became an outcast of the musical community due to his health problems. He was left to gig at various nightclubs around town, but when his behavior became too much, he was banned and would segue to the next club.

His increasingly erratic behavior began to affect his musical career, and he was eventually dropped by Warner Brothers. He had to be pulled off stage during the 1984 Playboy Jazz Festival due to drunkenness, prompting an apology to the crowd by MCBill Cosby. By 1984, the Word of Mouth Big Band had also splintered. In 1982 he managed to record a third solo album, which made it as far as some unpolished demo tapes, a steelpans-tinged release entitled Holiday for Pans, which once again showcased him as more of a tunesmith and producer than a bass player. In fact, Jaco did not play any of the bass parts on the album.

Some years after Jaco's death, bass player Kenny Burrell Jr. confessed to playing the bass parts, although this admission was considered suspect in light of Burrell's inferior capabilities as a bass player. Jaco could not find a distributor for the album and the album was never released; however it has since been widely bootlegged. In 2003, a cut from Holiday for Pans, entitled "Good Morning Anya", was included on Rhino Records' anthology Punk Jazz.

John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III

About the Director Billy Yeager

Billy Yeager has begun the pre-production for the film Jaco The Movie. Yeager began writing the script when he had a supernatural encounter with the artist in a NDE experiment.

Yeager has already started scouting locations for his next feature film “Jesus of Malibu” in Costa Rica, which he says will take at least a year to film the first of a 3 part series.When he returns in November he will begin the auditioning process for the lead character to perform the role of Jaco Pastorius world legendary bass player.

Billy; The film centers around the life and times of Jaco when he was young, between 14 and 25 years old , so we intend to reenact some very old nostalgic scenes from the glory days of Miami Beach Florida. We will also be featuring a Wayne Cochran look a like. Most of the sets will be designed by my aunt Bunny Yeager, who was around at that time a little before myself.

I am not going to delve into the stories of narcotics, alcohol, and strange behaviors; there is no point everyone knows this, its nothing new, so we can’t really learn anything from it.

My story is about the spirit and soul of someone who was connected to nature and the universe and I believe that Jaco had a great contribution besides leaving behind a legacy of Jaco wanna be’s; Jaco clones that haven’t a clue what the word originality is.

To center the film around a story of music, fame, drugs, sorrow and pity is just taking the easy way out, I intend to create a monumental masterpiece around the mind and imagination of a simple yet complicated man, one who had a lot of love in his heart.

I think as humans we should desire to probe the deepest thoughts of man, and ask ourselves “Why did Jaco want to play music, or why did Jaco want to make his statement sound arrogant that he was the greatest?

What is great? One person’s opinion is different from the other, choosing greatness or who’s the best bass player or guitarist is childish; you can leave that for the American football and beer mentality.

This is how they ruined music making it into a competition, and it’s the same thing they did to surfing and its purity, simplicity and beauty.

The world is a whore and it takes everything beautiful and turns it into its whore.

Music is beauty no matter how complicated or simple it is, and Jaco had beauty in my mind not in his complex fingerings or solos but beauty in simplicity of the small things and this is what the film will show.

My encounter with Jaco in 1983 revealed to me a childish nature and innocence when we played together in an intimate setting.

I remember Jaco dragging me by the arm all the way into the bathroom standing by the bathtub tickling my side and laughing and telling me how he recorded and mixed his kids giggling in the bathtub into a song he was recording on an album.

Then he dragged me outside to show me the trash can lids and explained how he ran outside with a microphone and recorded the garbage men in the morning banging the cans around and how he mixed that in the music also. But while he is telling me he is putting his fingers on his lips like“ Hey don’t tell anyone, they don’t know” And he’s laughing about it like a kid, and all I could think is, this guy is enjoying life, expressing himself like a sweet character not afraid of what people think, I liked that, and people need to see this, not the rude arrogant way he came off, that’s not the real Jaco. It’s similar in the way that I come off or am perceived, because I only let those who I feel a sense of communication with that I open up to.

Jaco was that way, and if he came off that way then its because those who were in his presence didn’t deserve to be with the spirit of Jaco, so he showed the other side.

When you come from a place of a spiritual nature then people become honest, sincere, and true.

That however will never be an issue for the cookie cutter indy filmmaker from the film school of Sams Club because any lame ass filmmaker can just throw together a bio story of Jacos life, call some people for tid bits, edit his best songs into the film somewhere and presto; another worthless piece of crap like everything else, because artist have no imagination anymore they are recycled waste in a wasteland of toxic culture poop..

I am doing this film because Jaco wouldn’t want anyone else to do it, and that’s what he told me, so I don’t care if anyone accepts it or not, because a true artists doesn’t fear, doesn’t sell out I am not in a popularity group trying to please simple minded folk waiting for Jaco to get knocked out by a punch in slow motion so we can be manipulated with a song as the credits role.

I am making this film because I am the greatest filmmaker to ever step on this planet, but the difference between my statement and Jaco’s is the arrogant humility factor divided by 2.

You tube auditions for the role of Jaco will be announced here so keep posted.

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